Wilshire Boulevard Temple, the oldest synagogue in Los Angeles, was in danger of abandonment in the first decade of the 21st century. Membership was declining and the building was falling apart. Its fate hung in the balance. Thanks to the vision and persistence of its senior rabbi, Steve Leder, the shul, listed on the National […]
Nearly two years after his widely unexpected victory in the U.S. presidential election, one may be forgiven for wondering how Republican Donald Trump managed to defeat his much better qualified Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. Clinton, after all, had excellent credentials. She had been the American secretary of state for four years. And she had learned […]
Joe Weider and his younger sibling, Ben, were visionaries, the founders of the modern fitness movement. Drawing a connection between exercise, nutrition and good health, the Montreal-born Jewish brothers founded a business empire that sells gym equipment and nutritional supplements and publishes body building magazines. George Gallo’s movie, Bigger, which opens in Canada on October […]
The security barrier that seals off Israel almost hermetically from the West Bank is a source of immense angst and controversy. To most Israelis, it’s a “separation fence” that keeps Palestinian terrorists at bay and thereby saves lives. To the Palestinians, it’s a “racial segregation wall” that restricts their movements, cuts them off from their […]
Forty one years ago, I visited Poland, my parents’ birthplace, for the first time. My friend Henry Srebrnik, whose father and mother were born and raised in Poland as well, was my travelling companion. In accordance with our plan, we spent several days in Lodz and Czestochowa, the cities from which our parents’ hailed. In […]
To seasoned rock climbers, El Capitan, a massive granite formation in California’s Yosemite National Park, is the ultimate challenge. More than 3,000 feet in height, this iconic monolith has been conquered by skillful enthusiasts using rope and protective equipment, but until Alex Honnold came along, no one had ever climbed it in free solo style. […]
When Polish-Jewish relations are discussed at any length, one of the topics that usually evokes heated debate revolves around the relationship between the Home Army (AK) and Jews. The largest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe, the AK had an estimated membership of 350,000 and represented a cross-section of Polish society. In general accounts of modern […]
Martin Himel’s latest documentary, Follow the Money, provides an unsettling glimpse into the unholy alliance between Islamic militias and organized crime. It will be broadcast in Canada on Vision TV on Monday, October 8 at 9 p.m. A Canadian journalist based in Israel, Himel uses his investigative skills to unearth disturbing information. He delves into the […]
Much to the detriment of Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, the United States has frozen a most valuable program designed to promote mutual tolerance, trust and understanding, build relationships across ethnic, religious and political boundaries, and address common problems. These are crucially important concepts in a turbulent region like the Middle East, where intolerance and fanaticism […]
Israel’s honeymoon with Russia has definitely cooled since a deadly incident in the skies over Syria on September 17. On that day, Israeli jets bombed a weapons facility in the coastal city Latakia, prompting Syrian air defence units to accidentally shoot down a Russian Ilyushin reconnaissance plane with 15 servicemen abroad. The Russian government immediately blamed […]